There isn’t a member of this Broncos locker room, as head coach Sean Payton said Monday, who didn’t feel like they were beaten by the Jaguars on Sunday. Soundly. Little blame but their own.
And Denver now looks to regroup after a 34-20 loss to Jacksonville that washed away an 11-game win streak, with plenty of good and bad mixed in.
Here is The Denver Post’s stock report from the afternoon.
Stock up
John Franklin-Myers’s value: With every play he makes, Franklin-Myers continues to price himself out of a range that the Broncos haven’t seemed interested in investing in anyway. Still — no change here — the Broncos haven’t initiated a conversation with his camp on any contract extension. And suddenly, Franklin-Myers looks poised to earn upwards of $20 million per year on the open market come the spring. The Dolphins’ three-year, $64 million extension with 30-year-old defensive tackle Zach Sieler last offseason could be a strong reference deal, as Franklin-Myers is one year younger and has one fewer sack (14.5 to 15.5) over the past two seasons.
This is a double-edged sword, though, because the prospect of losing Franklin-Myers becomes a tougher pill to swallow with each passing week. He racked up two sacks against the Jaguars on Sunday to set a career best with 7.5 on the season, and his relationship with Zach Allen is symbiotic in the heart of Denver’s defensive front. The Broncos could theoretically move enough money around after the season to re-sign Franklin-Myers, but that’d be a heck of an overall monetary investment in this defensive line. Time will tell.
RJ Harvey, learning: The full scope of Harvey’s responsibilities — as a second-round rookie RB — continues to grow in Sean Payton’s offense. For one point, the 24-year-old is now officially tied at 13th in the NFL (next to Lions wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown) in touchdowns, and first overall among rookies. His first year in Denver has been an unequivocal success, even as Harvey has had obvious growing pains in the NFL with vision and hitting inside lanes.
Even more cause for optimism is his growth in pass-protection. Harvey’s now handling more reps there than at any point in his rookie season, a few games after stepping into the No. 1 RB role with J.K. Dobbins out. The technique still needs work at times, but Harvey isn’t missing assignments and is hitting rushers when they need to be hit.
Technique is still developing, but #Broncos rookie RB RJ Harvey’s (12) recognition in pass-pro has come a long way. Here’s a few reps of that last night.
Key moving forward is trust w/Bo Nix. Seems (especially in last clip) Nix gets hurried when Harvey picks up rush. pic.twitter.com/ej5qmVVt10
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) December 22, 2025
One major key for this Broncos offense across the next few weeks and into the playoffs: quarterback Bo Nix and Harvey need to develop trust in such situations. Nix almost always hurries his throws when a blitz comes Harvey’s way, regardless of whether the rookie RB picks it up capably or not.
Que Robinson: Here’s a major silver lining of an all-around stinker of a defensive performance Sunday against the Jaguars. Interestingly, Denver saw enough in Robinson’s development to elevate him even with its full complement of outside linebackers available. And Robinson more than paid the faith: one pass batdown, two quarterback hits, one fantastic read of a Trevor Lawrence keeper on a five-yard loss. Robinson’s developing fast enough that the Broncos might have to make some tough decisions heading into the next couple of offseasons on reserve OLBs like Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman.
Duck Squad: After long stretches of shakiness in the deep passing game between Nix and wideout Troy Franklin, the two have officially clicked. It came much too little and too late, but Nix deposited a 48-yard bomb perfectly in Franklin’s hands. It was the kind of deep timing that hadn’t shown up for months between former Oregon teammates, and a welcome sign for the stretch run.
After a couple of games with shaky hands, Franklin quietly leveled up across his past two games, catching 10 of his 11 targets for 151 yards. Denver needs that confidence to spill into January.
Stock down
Health: Yikes. In the span of about 15 seconds Sunday, the Broncos announced tight end Nate Adkins was out with a knee injury, lost practice-squad safety Delarrin Turner-Yell to a knee injury, and saw outside linebacker Elliss head to the sideline medical tent. It’s that time of the year.
Rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant was released from the hospital after a truly scary late-game scene Sunday night. The important news: Bryant appears to have avoided truly serious injury, and is in the concussion protocol. The not-so-good news: The Broncos may miss one of their most important receivers for the stretch run. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw also hurt his hamstring late against the Jaguars, a brutal development with safety Brandon Jones already on injured reserve. Denver’s beginning to be stretched thin.
Defensive communication: This Broncos defense didn’t slump Sunday for any lack of talent or sheer effort. But when Vance Joseph’s unit has problems, it’s almost always communication-related. Heavy doses of match coverage take heavy doses of mental discipline, and the Broncos were outmaneuvered a few too many times by Jacksonville.
Take one 20-yard catch-and-run by a Jaguars receiver on a third down in the fourth quarter. Lawrence checked into a play pre-snap, which Broncos middle linebacker Alex Singleton and nickel Ja’Quan McMillian sniffed out. McMillian, who was blitzing, gestured back at his would-be matchup — Washington — lined up in the slot. But safety P.J. Locke and cornerback Riley Moss both went with Jaguars receiver Jakobi Meyers deep, and Washington ended up wide-open.
Singleton gestured rapidly and barked at his teammates after the play. It won’t be a happy week of film review for this defense.
These are kinds of defensive miscommunications #Broncos will have to digest on tape.
Q3 — Alex Singleton (49) + Ja’Quan McMillian (29) can see read’s coming for Jags’ Parker Washington. Clearly Riley Moss/P.J. Locke get mixed up on back-end. Singleton barks at them after play. pic.twitter.com/RKmCJjoXKS
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) December 22, 2025
Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper: After a blistering start, the Broncos’ dynamite outside-linebacker duo has slowed in recent weeks. Bonitto characterized his performance against the Jaguars on Sunday — two pressures on 18 pass-rush snaps — as “ass.” Cooper, meanwhile, has been solid against the run but has only accounted for one sack in his last six games. If Denver wants to regain its defensive mojo and snap the all-time sack record, this pair needs to get going.
Denver’s AFC seeding chances: Well, Sunday certainly made the rest of this Broncos season interesting. Not only did the Jaguars climb within a game of Denver in the AFC standings, but the Broncos now sit tied (with the advantage of a tiebreaker) with the New England Patriots at 12-3 atop the AFC. The Broncos have to take on a rolling Justin Herbert and the 11-4 Chargers in Week 18. The Patriots have… the 3-12 New York Jets and the 6-9 Miami Dolphins left on their schedule.
Denver controls its destiny. Win out, and they get the No. 1 seed and a playoff bye. But that’s an awfully tough destiny to control.
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